1. Still streaking: If North Carolina’s dominance of Clemson in Chapel Hill could survive the 8-20 season of 2001-02 and the 11-point deficit with three minutes to play in regulation in ’08, it can survive pretty much anything. It did again Sunday, as the Tar Heels woke from their month-long funk to rout the Tigers 80-61 in a game that wasn’t really that close to extend their all-time record to 57-0 against Clemson on their home court.

2. Glory road: Okay, so it was only Virginia Tech – clearly the worst team in the ACC this season. But after going two full years without winning a game away from home, any road victory is cause for celebration for Wake Forest. The Deacons’ 83-77 win in Blacksburg was their first away from home since Jan. 21, 2012 and improved the road record of embattled coach Jeff Bzdelik to 2-27 since arriving at Wake four seasons ago.

3. New balance: It took an injury to star forward for N.C. State to figure it out, but the Wolfpack learned this week that has other players that can help with the scoring load. Ralston Turner, Desmond Lee, Kyle Washington and even backup point guard Tyler Lewis all made major offensive contributions as State scored ACC wins against Maryland and Georgia Tech.

Kobe Bryant flashes a thumbs up sign while sitting courtside at Wednesday’s Duke-Miami game

4. Famous friends: Ever wonder why Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is such a good recruiter? It doesn’t hurt that he has friends like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Dwayne Wade on his speed dial. Wednesday, all three NBA stars were sitting courtside in support of their Olympic coach while helping inspire the Blue Devils to a 67-46 win at Miami. “It’s a blessing to get their support, to see those superstars give support to the little guys,” freshman Jabari Parker said.

5. Dominant Cavaliers: Virginia improved to 6-1 in the ACC after Saturday’s 65-45 win against Virginia Tech. That marks the Cavaliers’ best start since Ralph Sampson was still playing, in 1982-83. Not only is coach Tony Bennett’s team winning, it’s winning big. Virginia has held leads of 20 points or more in each of its six ACC wins.

1. Woeful Hokies: Virginia Tech has lost six straight and eight of its last nine. It has failed to break 60 points in six of those eight losses. Saturday’s 20-point rout at the hands of Virginia was the Hokies’ most lopsided defeat to the Cavaliers since 1991 and their 45 points were the fewest in the series since losing 57-29 to its rival in 1946.

2. Fading Irish: Notre Dame has fallen on hard times since beating Duke in its debut ACC game back on Jan. 4. The Irish are 1-4 since with losses at Florida State and Wake Forest this week. Coach Mike Brey’s team is now 0-5 on the road this season.

3. Going out with a whimper: Like new ACC member Notre Dame, lame duck Maryland’s final season in the league has taken a turn for the worse after a promising start. The Terrapins has wasted a 2-0 start by dropping four of their last five, including losses to Maryland and Pittsburgh last week. Monday’s loss in Raleigh was especially damaging after squandering an 11-point second half lead against an opponent playing without its best player.

Florida State’s Okoro White grabs both the ball and Tyler Thornton’s head during Saturday’s loss at Duke

4. Foul-Noles: Florida State four more field goals than Duke on Saturday, but because the Seminoles couldn’t keep the Blue Devils off the free throw line, they ended up losing the game by 18. FSU committed 29 fouls, including two that were deemed flagrant and one intentional, leading to 43 Duke free throws. Five of those fouls were called on Okaro White, who earlier in the week was publicly reprimanded by the ACC for his aggressive behavior after an earlier game at Virginia.

5. Good seats available: The announced attendance at Tuesday’s game between Boston College and Georgia Tech in Chestnut Hill was 1,789, but there weren’t more than 500 people in the stands at Conte Forum when the game started. A snow storm had something to do with the paltry attendance, but it also may have had something to do with the Eagles’ play. Their loss to the Yellow Jackets was their 10th in the last 12 games.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE WEEK

UNC and Duke both showed signs of regaining the form that was expected of them at the start of the season, and neither had to make major changes to do it. All it took for the Blue Devils to start rebounding and defending, and the Tar Heels to start making shots, was a sense of urgency and a little extra effort. Now the question is whether each team can sustain that intensity over an extended period into the second half of the ACC season.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Parker

This was a tough call. Pittsburgh’s emerging star Lamar Patterson scored 27 points while averaging 6.5 assists and 5.5 rebounds in two wins. But because of the importance of Jabari Parker’s performances to Duke’s victories against Miami and Florida State, he gets the award. Parker had 17 points and a career-high 15 rebounds against the Hurricanes on Wednesday. He then picked up 14 more boards, along with 14 points in Saturday’s win against the Seminoles.

STAT OF THE WEEK

Mike Krzyzewski is already the winningest coach in college basketball history with 973 victories. Saturday’s win, however, added another milestone to Coach K’s already impressive memory. It was his 900th at Duke, making him only the second coach ever – along with Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim – to win 900 or more games at one school.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“It makes the bus drive home a little nicer. In fact, I was thinking about telling the bus driver to just go to Wilmington and to Charlotte and ride around so we could enjoy it before we got back home.” Wake Forest coach Jeff Bzdelik after Wednesday’s win at Virginia Tech.

LOOKING AHEAD

This is a pivotal week for Duke, starting with Monday’s game at Pittsburgh. The Blue Devils also play at No. 2 Syracuse on Saturday. Before playing Duke, the Orange travels to Winston-Salem to test Wake Forest and its 13-game home winning streak. And after trying to stay hot in weeknight games against Georgia Tech and Florida State, respectively, UNC and N.C. State will face off against one another on Saturday in Chapel Hill.

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